Quote:With 5 "power conferences" (who coined that phrase?) and only four slots we're going to see this often. I don't doubt that the Big 12 goes to a championship game, but you still have five into four.

 

So - how to determine which championship team to leave out? Strength of schedule. It will matter. This year was a fluke, with the Baylor/TCU co-champions a perfect opportunity to get jumped. It won't be that simple in the future.

 

Cupcakes are going to become embarrassing. Big pay days for the like of Georgia Southern will become fewer and fewer.

 

I dont know that I buy that.  At least not based on what we saw this year.  Baylor had by all accounts the weakest non-conference schedule of all D1A teams.  Saw it was ranked 128 out of 128.  And they had a loss in conference.  And were still one spot away from making it.  If they had gone undefeated, they would have made it regardless of a terrible non-conference schedule.  If FSU had one loss, good chance Baylor would have jumped them despite the fact that FSU played 13 games against power teams while Baylor only played 9.  Winning impressively against 9 teams is better than struggling to win even if you play 13 of them.  If Baylor had beaten Kansas St 59-0 while Ohio St had a solid yet unspectacular win over Wisconsin, I wouldnt be surprised if Baylor leapfrogged them as well.  Oregon's non-conference win was much more impressive than Bama's.  Yet Bama is #1 and Oregon is #2.  

 

I've see nothing that suggests you will be penalized harshly for a weaker non-conference schedule.

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